Leave the Hero's Ex-Girlfriend Alone! - Chapter 11
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Leave the Hero’s ex-girlfriend alone!
EP11
When I arrived at the shoot, everyone was already bustling about.
I’d come right on time, yet I felt as though I’d somehow shown up late.
“Hello. Thank you in advance for today.”
I greeted the photography director.
“Oh, Haesoo’s here. I was worried after hearing from you yesterday, so I’m relieved.”
“Yes, I may not measure up to Manager Yoon, but I’ll do my best.”
At my words, the photography director laughed heartily.
But because he called out “Haesoo” so loudly, the staff’s attention swung our way.
“Haesoo?”
“Wait, is that Eun Haesoo?”
“What? She’s actually here on set? No way…”
Sure enough, people began whispering among themselves.
Right. Please scrape every last bit of it up with your side dishes tonight at the dinner.
My love life is going to be your dopamine, I suppose.
Ugh… The words I’d said a few days ago flashed through my mind.
‘Seriously… I never want to get tangled up with you again…’
I shouldn’t have said something like that.
They say you should watch your words, and right now I’m living proof of that.
I finished my greetings with the director and set my bag down on the table.
I immediately picked up the clipboard, checked the schedule, and looked over the equipment placement and the flow of the tables.
“Alright! We’re starting the camera test. Alpha, you can step in now.”
The director called out.
And for a moment, my gaze stopped.
His black hair caught the reflected light and shone softly, his nose bridge was sharply straight, and his eyes looked playful at a glance yet occasionally turned keen.
Finely sculpted features.
Anyone who looked at that face would be forgiven for mistaking it for love.
Just like me, once upon a time.
Fine, his face… I’ll admit it.
But that’s all it is.
The guy seemed to focus for a moment, then slowly turned his head toward me and smiled.
I clenched my teeth.
Don’t smile.
How infuriating.
“Alright, the setup’s complete.”
“First scene, let’s go. Warm up the lights. Make it feel like sunlight.”
“Alpha, turn your right shoulder slightly. Yes, just like that. Eyes not on the camera, but on the cup.”
This shoot’s concept is ‘Hero of Everyday Life.’
It was a pictorial built on the idea that heroes aren’t distant beings, but ordinary people no different from everyone else.
Because hostile glances toward Power Users still linger, this was a deliberately planned campaign.
The guy was wearing a beige knit and black slacks, sitting at the table.
He had to hold a coffee cup, gaze out at the scenery, and act out an air of carefree indifference.
But… the problem is, that’s exactly what he’s supposed to do.
“Cut! Alpha, your eyes are smiling far too much right now. Drop that and go for something plainer, please.”
The photography director signaled a cut and gave his feedback.
“Sorry. It’s just that the promotions handler over there is staring at me so fiercely.”
At his absurd excuse, laughter rippled through the set.
I was the only one who squeezed my eyes shut.
“Going again!”
As filming resumed, the lights came back on and the shutter clicks of the cameras rang out rapidly.
In an instant, he returned to the face of a professional.
Under the soft lighting like sunshine, he lifted his coffee cup and cast his gaze into the distance.
Maybe it was the makeup, but he looked even more radiant than usual.
“…He’s handsome.”
I was startled by my own words and clapped a hand over my mouth.
I glanced around, wondering if anyone had heard.
Thankfully, everyone was so absorbed in the shoot that they’d long since stopped paying any attention to me.
I fixed my eyes on the screen, where the photos were steadily coming in one after another.
Until now I’d only heard that a pictorial shoot was happening, so seeing it in person for the first time left me with a strange feeling.
“Cut! Great. We’re good on this take.”
The staff applauded, and the guy bowed his head.
Alpha stepped off the set, his gaze sliding briefly in my direction.
Our eyes met.
I turned my head away at once.
…Seriously, what bad luck.
It was already past twelve.
We were given a short break.
I helped with the cleanup of the equipment, then slipped quietly out of the studio and sat down on a bench shaded by a tree.
The sunlight flickered faintly against my eyelids, but this was enough.
For once, I finally felt a little calm.
And then.
“Mind if I sit here?”
A coffee landed on the bench in front of me with a soft thud.
When I opened my eyes, that guy was standing with the sun at his back.
Instead of answering, I pushed the coffee away.
“No.”
“Okay. Then I’ll sit beside you.”
If he was just going to do what he wanted, why bother asking at all?
He sat right beside me.
“I told you not to sit.”
“Is there really any need to avoid me this much?”
“I’m not avoiding you.”
I answered without looking at him.
For a long while, neither of us said a word.
Only the quiet sound of the wind filled the space between us.
After a while, he pressed his lips together and carefully opened his mouth.
“Are you disappointed in me?”
…….
“Or is it that you just… don’t like me anymore?”
I didn’t answer right away.
I lowered my gaze, fidgeting with the coffee in front of me.
I thought it over in silence for a long time.
“Both.”
I looked him straight in the eyes and answered without hesitation.
Even so, he gave a small smile.
“At least you’re still answering me. That’s a relief.”
What on earth was there to smile about?
Since that day, I had sorted through a great deal on my own.
Every feeling, every memory, every moment leading up to this very day, replayed hundreds of times over.
“Eunho.”
At that name, Alpha stopped with his hand halfway to his coffee.
“How did it turn out?”
After a brief silence, he quietly set down his cup.
“They concluded he’s a Non-Ability User. For now.”
“For now?”
I didn’t let it slide and pressed him on it.
“Yeah. The test results confirmed he’s a Non-Ability User, and the Association has decided not to get involved any further. His mother also came right away and took him home.”
“…Really?”
Unable to hide my relief, I leaned a little closer.
For a split second, I felt his shoulder twitch ever so slightly, but that wasn’t what mattered.
Alpha looked away from me for just a moment, then nodded again.
“Yeah. A missing person report had been filed with the police.”
He fell silent for a moment, then parted his lips again.
“So you don’t need to worry about it anymore. As far as this goes, it’s over.”
His words were somehow careful and gentle.
Both his word choice and his tone seemed to hope that I wouldn’t get hurt, even a little.
I nodded silently and took a sip of my coffee.
The bitter liquid slid down my throat, and oddly, my mind settled into calm.
A brief silence.
The guy set his coffee down and spoke in a low voice.
“…Still, if you notice anything strange, tell me right away.”
The look in his eyes as he said it wasn’t playful or light like usual.
He seemed uneasy, yet also like someone who had made up his mind about something.
Without looking away from me, he suddenly grinned and leaned back against his chair.
Then, in his familiar tone, he tossed out a joke, the kind he always made.
“You always get tangled up in weird stuff. Weird guys, that is.”
I let out a short snort.
I couldn’t tell whether it was worry or a joke, but in that moment, absurdly, I laughed.
Did he not realize he was one of those weird guys too?
Or was he just pretending he wasn’t?
Still, for now, I decided to believe him.
The sunlight felt strangely warmer.
Just then, a crew member called out loudly.
“Alpha, we’re getting ready for the next shoot! The actress has arrived!”
“Coming.”
He got to his feet and glanced down at me.
Then he nudged the leftover coffee in front of me with one hand.
“Don’t leave it. It’s expensive.”
With that, he walked slowly toward the studio building.
As if she’d been waiting for him, a woman with long straight hair, a doll-like face, and a red dress came up beside Alpha.
I knew her face too.
She was one of the hottest actresses right now.
Her face was full of smiles, as if something had amused her greatly.
The staff cheered, saying, “The mood today is so good,” but I stared at my coffee, which had gone strangely cold, and muttered to myself.
“…I get that it’s a pictorial shoot, but do they really have to cling to each other like that?”
The coffee tasted a little bitter. Just a little, more bitter than it had before.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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